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Testosterone patch boosts women’s sex lives

By Shaoni Bhattacharya in San Antonio

A skin patch that boosts the “male” hormone testosterone markedly improves the sex lives of women suffering from a loss of sexual desire, following the removal of their ovaries. Testosterone increased desire scores and sexual activity in these women by about 40 per cent compared to a placebo.

The international team of researchers tested the patch in European and Australian women who had suffered early menopause due to the surgery and developed hypoactive sexual desire disorder. The disorder is the most common female sexual dysfunction and can be caused by depression, medication or natural menopause.

“The results are striking for two specific reasons,” says study leader Susan Davis, at the Jean Hailes Foundation, in Melbourne. “There was an extremely low placebo response, so it’s a true treatment effect. Also, we are not just talking about sex, this study is really about quality of life. This is about women wanting to feel better.” The work was funded by the multinational company Procter & Gamble.

There are currently no medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treating diminished sexual desire in women. Testosterone is produced naturally in the ovaries and adrenal glands and is thought to be important for proper sexual functioning in both sexes.

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The daily testosterone patch was “well-tolerated and significantly improved sexual functioning”, says the team, who presented their work at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s meeting in San Antonio, Texas, US on Wednesday.

Cultural differences

Davis told New Scientist that the study is unique as previous work on testosterone patches has only been in US women and had shown a placebo effect. The new work was done at 20 different sites, which Davis says is important because there are often cultural differences in response to treatment.

Seventy-seven surgically menopausal women who were already on oestrogen hormone replacement patches received either a 300 microgram testosterone patch every day, or a placebo.

Established measures were then used to assess their levels of sexual desire and activity, as well their general psychological state and feelings of distress.

Those who received testosterone had 38 per cent higher sexual desire scores compared with those on placebo and total “satisfying sexual activity” increased by about 43 per cent. The testosterone patch also significantly improved orgasm, sexual arousal, sexual responsiveness, sexual self image and reduced the levels of feeling distressed.

Davis says scientists are unclear as to how testosterone works to improve sexual function in this way. She says the team is doing further work on how testosterone acts in the brain.

Women have far more testosterone in their bloodstream at any given time than the “female” hormone oestrogen, she says. Aromatase enzymes in the brain convert testosterone into oestrogen. “We don’t really understand the mechanism of action,” she says. “What is believed is that you need that conversion to oestrogen.”